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2018 Giving Ohio Residents 2019 Gift

During the 2018 legislative year gun-owners have been working with politicians for a bill to be passed by the Ohio General Assembly that would improve several aspects for firearm owners in Ohio. Early in December the house and the Senate passed the HB 228 but on December 20th the Governor dashed everyone’s hope by veto’ing the bill because it did not include any ‘Red Flag’ provisions in it. In response to this Ohio gun owners rallied and contacted their representatives then on December 27, 2018 the Ohio General Assembly overrode the Governor’s veto giving firearm owners some improvements.

Broaden preemption to include carrying, selling, transferring, and manufacturing of firearms. This prevents cities from making laws that are in conflict with state law and if they do makes it easier to recover attorney fees in these cases.

Simplifies requirements on who and where no-gun signs are required to be posted. Previously state law required signs in places where you could legally carry leading to confusion.It shifts the burden of proof back to the prosecutor to prove you are guilty in a self defense situation. Until this passed Ohio was the only state where the accused had to prove their innocence in the use of self defense versus the persecutor proving guilt.

Clarifies the definition of a sawed off shotgun. This was suppose to make the Mossberg Shockwave type firearms legal in Ohio but due to a clerical error firearms that are legal under federal law like the Mossberg Shockwave and Remington Tac 14 are still illegal in Ohio

The law has also been changed that Ohio CCW/CHL license holders will only need to have their CCW permit for identification. No longer is an additional government ID required during a stop with law enforcement.

Providing materially false information to a FFL dealer or private selling in order to make a straw purchase for firearms or ammunition. Previously this was seldom being prosecuted on the federal level. This will give prosecutors the means to go after criminals who purchase firearms and ammunition illegally.

HB 228 will go into effect at the end of March 2019 with the final date set when it is recorded.

(Update: HB 228 will go into effect 3/28/2019)

Although HB 228 contained many improvements for Ohio’s gun owners it did not include language for Stand-Your-Ground provision and Ohio remains a duty to retreat state. There’s a new General Assembly starting on January 2nd and hopefully they will be able to quickly correct the error surrounding the Mossberg Shockwave and Stand-Your-Ground legislation and send it to the new governor.

For those in Ohio thank your legislatures in the General Assembly and keep the pressure up on them to continue to the laws around gun ownership.